Sep

Know Your Campus: The TIC

Ever walked by that ticket booth on the way out of Lerner (campus-side) and wondered exactly what they do there? Before you go up and ask them, let us tell you about it. And no, they’re not there to fix the printers in the computer lab or lend you a stapler.

The TIC (Ticket and Information Center), part of the Arts Initiative at Columbia University, is definitely an underutilized feature on campus. It’s one of those things, like the subway, that you say you’ll use all the time but then forget about in your little MoHi bubble. Basically, you can buy cool shit at the TIC. Most students are familiar with it from on-campus events: tickets for most on-campus shows (VShow, XMAS!, CMTS stuff, etc.) and events are sold there.

But the TIC also sells discounted tickets to various events and shows around New York. Through them, you can see Broadway shows, operas, ballets, plays, special museum exhibitions, and more. Although Bwog would advise checking the venue’s student discounts before committing (sometimes they have the same price as the TIC, but for better seats), the TIC is still pretty sweet for getting you into hot New York cultural happenings. Even if they don’t have tickets for a specific show you want to see, they often can give you discount codes for theaters (mostly musicals).

The TIC also has cheap movie ticket vouchers, if you really want to impress your date. Rather than spending a million dollars on an NYC movie ticket, go to the TIC for movie theater passes, where price range from $6.75 to $8.75 depending on movie chain and the release date of a movie. You can get vouchers for AMC, Clearview, and Regal theaters as well as the Angelika. It’s a little effort–you don’t pick a specific movie showing, you just get a voucher and then bring it to the theater box office to exchange for a real ticket, unless the movie’s sold out–but totally worth it.

Most of the events being sold this semester are already listed and selling fast–especially the family shows around the holidays. You and a friend can buy tickets to the same event and the TIC will get you tickets next to each other, even if you don’t purchase at the same time. You have to have a CUID (BC included) to purchase, but then can give the tickets to whoever (impress visiting friends! Make your parents proud!). There are lists outside of the TIC listing everything on sale, as well as online. You can also purchase everything on flex so HA parents. Get over there!